


The Lovers' Maze

by AscentMachine



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Humour, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-20 17:26:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18529726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AscentMachine/pseuds/AscentMachine
Summary: In which Adora gets jealous of Catra and Bow’s developing relationship. Not that she thinks she's jealous. At all.





	The Lovers' Maze

**Author's Note:**

> Adora is clueless. Nothing new.

“So … spying on Bow and Catra I see.”

The voice of Glimmer next to her made Adora jump and yelp. To her luck, though, no one looked around at their bush. Adora slapped a hand over Glimmer’s mouth and pulled her in with her before the others could notice.

“I’m not spying!” She whispered, her cheeks tinged pink. “I’m just  - observing. Is all.” She let go of Glimmer and peeked through the bush back towards the skirmish.

Catra and Bow had become swift best friends. Adora had always thought that Bow would be too soft for someone like Catra, who loved pushing people’s buttons. But when Catra had arrived at Bright Moon with her crew of defectors, Bow had been the one to jump in and help fend off the Horde soldiers chasing them through the woods.

Adora had been off training at the Citadel with Light Hope when she arrived, and by then it was too late  - Catra had already dragged Bow into pulling pranks with her, and Glimmer had warmed up to the feline when they tag-teamed to raid a minor Horde base.

Honestly, how was it possible that she’d end up missing so much within two days of She-Ra training? Part of her was still suspicious about Light Hope’s choice of timing.

And now, on this bright sunny day, Catra and Bow were sparring for a small crowd of rebel children. Laughing with each other. Joking around.

Adora frowned.

“Riiiight,” Glimmer folded her arms. “You’re _observing_. That’s why you’re sitting _here in a bush_ , instead of up there with everybody else.”

“Yep,” was Adora’s clipped response, and her brows creased even further as she examined the scene. Catra was pulling Bow up to his feet. Her tail curled in amusement when he raised a hand for time to catch his breath. 

“Adora come on,” Glimmer sighed and placed a hand on Adora’s elbow. “Just because Catra’s spending time with Bow doesn’t mean you’re not her best friend.” Her tone turned warm and understanding. “It’s like when Bow spent time with Perfuma during Princess Prom. He only wanted me to come hang out with him too. I’m sure Catra wants to spar with you just as much as you do.”

Adora’s face flushed. How had Glimmer known  - ugh, it didn’t matter. “Look, I’m just studying technique right now. It’s not a big deal.” She grumbled.

She glanced back in time to see that they had resumed fighting. Catra dodged an attack from Bow and poked him in the forehead with a claw.  At this, Adora felt her face tug down unhappily. Catra had used to do that with her all the time. _Just_ her.

“Okay. You look really jealous right now,” Glimmer said flatly, cutting the chase.

“Wha – I am not jealous!” Adora protested. When Glimmer raised an eyebrow, the blonde grit her teeth angrily. Before Glimmer could make any more helpful observations, Adora stomped back towards the castle.

She just needed to take some time to think about how she would approach this.

 

* * *

 

Okay, she really did miss sparring with Catra. 

Adora walked out of Brightmoon Castle that evening with a whole pack of training gear. Training swords, training staves, and even padded gear for hand to hand combat were available from the armoury. The weapons master raised an eyebrow when she requested a set for everything, but Adora was determined to be ready for a good sparring session.

One of the guards outside pointed her towards where he had seen Catra, and Adora took the winding path towards the archery range.

When she rounded the bend, however, she stopped. Catra was standing at the end of the archery lane, holding a longbow. Bow shook his head and moved closer to her in order to adjust her form. Seeing Bow enter Catra’s space made Adora’s gut twist tightly.

“Hey!” She startled the two of them so much that Catra released her arrow, where it flew into the target with a thud.

“Oh, hey Adora!” Bow beamed and waved her over. He stepped away from Catra, which made Adora’s chest release its tightness.

Catra eyed the bag that Adora was lugging with unbridled interest. She lowered her longbow and her tail flicked side to side. “What’s with all those weapons?”

“I was … wondering if you wanted to spar?” She dropped her bag, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She had just interrupted them, after all.

“You know, that is a tempting offer,” Catra said slowly. She looked up to see that the feline was running her hands up and down the longbow thoughtfully. “But we booked the range to practice.”

“Right,” Adora’s face fell. “I-I’ll find someone else then.”

“Or,” Bow’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t _we_ spar? Then Catra can shoot my new spider arrows at us while we fight! I have been _dying_ for a chance to try the spider arrows.”

It wasn’t quite what she wanted, but Adora couldn’t bring herself to say no to both Catra and Bow when both of them now had pleading looks in their eyes.

“Best of five?” Adora offered with a nervous laugh.

That was how she ended up crossing staves with Bow as Catra stood at a distance. At first, it wasn’t quite so bad. It was usually Bow who ended up getting hit by one of the spider arrows, and that made it even easier for Adora to get a win. It was … actually pretty satisfying to flaunt her skills in front of Catra like this.

At their fifth and final battle, the two of them had managed to not get hit with any of Catra’s spider arrows and were now panting for breath. Bow seemed to be especially tired because he lunged sloppily and allowed Adora the chance to duck under his reach. She took the opportunity to kick him to the ground and he landed on the ground with an _oof_.

Eager to secure a sweep against the boy, she leapt to her feet and raised her staff – only to have a spider arrow hit her chest.

The glue exploded with a dramatic boom and wound her arms together, knocking her off balance and onto the ground. But before she could wriggle out of its grip, Bow poked her chest with the staff.

Catra ran forwards to high-five Bow.

Normally she was gracious with her losses, but something about seeing Catra laugh with Bow as she lay on the ground wrapped in magic glue didn’t sit well with her. 

She pulled her arms out of the weakening bindings, and, rather than thank them for a good battle, turned to pack up her gear.

“Hey, where are you going?” Catra’s surprised voice halted her for only a moment.

“I – I realized I needed to go do something,” Adora didn’t even bother looking at Catra. “Sorry. You guys get back to archery.”

She didn’t see the way Bow scratched his head. Or how Catra’s eyes creased in concern after her.

 

* * *

 

That night, Adora lay in bed sighing unhappily. She hated the way she felt whenever she saw Catra and Bow together. Honestly, how had _Bow_ gotten Catra’s trust so easily?

It wasn’t like she didn’t like Bow, but … she almost wished he could stop being so likeable. She’d been looking forward to spending time with Catra again now that she was part of the Rebellion.

But … things were different now.

There was a knock at the door.

 _"_ Psst! Adora!"That voice was unmistakable, even muffled across her door. Adora’s heart leapt and she got up from bed to open the door.  

“Hey Catra-" she smiled, but it faltered slightly when she noticed who was standing behind her. “And Bow.”

“Hey, Adora! Look at this!” Catra excitedly waved a tablet in front of Adora’s face. “Bow upgraded the map of the Woods. So we’re going to take a short walk. Join us!”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!” Bow gave her two thumbs up from over Catra’s shoulder. “Glimmer might come swing by later on.”

“Oh,” Adora suddenly felt her enthusiasm disappear. “Uhm, I’m actually kind of tired guys. But you should go ahead.” The last thing she wanted was to be a third wheel with these two.

Huh.

It really hurt to think of things that way. She used to be so close with Catra that everyone else would complain of being a third wheel.

“Oh come onnnn Adora,” Catra rolled her eyes. “Live a little! It’ll be fun!” 

“I said I’m tired, Catra,” Adora snapped. Catra’s eyebrow raised in surprise at her tone.

“Woah, okay. Calm your pyjamas, princess.”

“Quit calling me Princess.” Adora grumped. Bow wasn’t a Princess. It was starting to make her feel different. But Catra huffed, now annoyed.

“Quit telling me what to do!”

“ _I’m_ telling you what to do?” Adora narrowed her eyes. “ _You’re_ the one who came in here to-"

“Ohhkay, got it, Adora. Now’s not a good time.” Bow chuckled nervously as he looked between the two of them. “It’s okay. We’ll all go together next time!” And to Adora’s further annoyance, he pulled Catra away by the elbow. There was a frown on Catra’s face when she turned back to look at Adora. But underneath her ruffled fur was a look of hurt and confusion as she let Bow drag her away.

Adora closed the door and leaned her back on it. She covered her face with her hands and groaned as she slid down to the floor.  

Great, now she’d only proved Catra’s point about being a killjoy. And maybe she was mad at her. Perfect.

Could this get any worse?

 

* * *

 

“You know, you could just try talking to her.”

Glimmer sat on her bed, sympathetically listening to Adora wind down from her spiralling monologue about how she felt guilty for snapping at Catra, and how she was annoyed that Catra and Bow had started to plan nighttime adventures.

“How?” Adora asked plaintively, wrapped her arms around her knees into a tight ball in the middle of Glimmer’s bed.

“Well …” Glimmer’s eyes softened at the sight. “You said you took Catra on a skiff before, right? Well, there’s one in the Eastern castle that’s free to use. All you need to do is ask the guard there for a key.”

“Catra _would_ like that,” Adora smiled despite herself. She hadn’t forgotten how terrifying Catra could be on a skiff.

“Exactly!” Glimmer beamed. “I know you can work it out, Adora. I mean, it’s not like she’s on the opposite side of the war anymore.”

“She’s just with Bow.” Adora sighed.

“Yeah,” Glimmer said slowly. “But she’s definitely not _with_ Bow. I don’t think you need to worry, Adora. It’ll be fine.”

Adora didn’t really know what she meant, but regardless, she took Glimmer’s advice. She found her way to the Eastern castle, which faced away from the Fright Zone. The path there took her through a short forest trail until she reached a shack in the middle of a small clearing. She approached the guard sitting on the stool in front of a sign that said _TRICK SKIFF._

“Hey uh, Glimmer said I could borrow a skiff here?”

“You’re too late,” the guard yawned. He pointed up over Adora’s shoulder and she spun around. To her amazement, she spotted a skiff pulling up steeply into the sky. It was going up far beyond regulations, she was certain. But … wait … she squinted at the flight crew.

Entrapta was at the wheel, with a terrified Bow and ecstatic Catra at the back. Both of them screamed, for different reasons, as Entrapta pulled them up and back into a wide loop.

“They’ve been at it for the last half-hour,” the guard shrugged wearily. “And they haven’t calmed down. I don’t know if they’ll be back on the ground any time soon.”

Adora stared at the sight for a few seconds. Then she sighed and walked back towards the castle with tears burning into her eyes. She pounded the trail backwards out of the forest, where she promptly turned in towards one of the mazes along this castle side.  

Apparently, these mazes had helped halt assassins back in the day. She hoped it would be secluded and confusing enough to give her some time alone. She found a dead end with a fountain and she decided to pace there for a while. Eventually, she sunk by the fountain wall and returned to her sad huddle.

She wasn’t allowed to stay like this, evidently, because there was a shadow that crossed over into her tiny hideaway. She tensed as the shadow approached, hoping it would pass her. But then -

“Adora?” Catra entered the space, her nose twitching. Oh no. Adora steeled herself, half-expecting Bow to come around the corner as well.

Catra froze for a second when she spotted the human. She bounded over to her quickly. “H-Hey, Adora, what’s wrong?”

Catra knelt in front of her and brought her hand up to run Adora’s loose bangs out of her forehead and back behind her ear. Adora’s heart raced at her touch and she looked up in amazement. She saw only concern in Catra’s expression, and her heart squeezed at the sight.

“It’s dumb,” Adora muttered, her cheeks turning pink as she looked away. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Uh, I saw you stomp away from the meadow,” Catra deadpanned. “And I _know_ you, dork.” She sat down next to her and nudged her gently by the elbow. “Come on. You’ve been … weirder than usual this week. Just tell me what it is already.”

“I just …” Adora glanced at Catra and immediately noticed how close she was. She could see the flecks of colour in her eyes. The attentive gaze made Adora feel warm. And rather silly. “I just wanted to spend time with you like we used to before, but you were always with Bow.” She finally admitted, hunching over.

Shock and understanding slammed into Catra’s face. “Wait. Are you … _jealous_?”

“I am _not -_ ” Adora tried to protest, but she felt the flush hit her cheeks. Instead of responding right away, though, Catra picked up her arm until Adora was wrapping the feline’s shoulders. Adora looked over in surprise, just in time to see Catra nuzzle down against her shoulder.

“Keep telling yourself that Adora,” Catra chuckled. She started purring.

Catra used to do this to calm her down, back in the Fright Zone. But this time around, Adora felt her heart thud loudly at the close contact. It was really nice spending time along with Catra like this again.

“Okay,” Adora mumbled after a long moment. “Maybe I was a bit jealous.” 

Catra pulled her head up to look at Adora. Adora gave her a sheepish grin.

“Come on dummy, there’s no way Bow could ever replace you,” Catra poked her forehead with a claw-less finger. “You’re like, my _best_ friend.”

“I just – You were spending more time with him than me,” Adora tried to explain. She rubbed Catra’s shoulder absently. “I’m sorry for snapping at you the other night.”

“Eh, me too.” Catra twirled her thumbs awkwardly. “Bow’s actually really good with …” she waved her hands in the air vaguely. “Emotions and stuff,” she finally settled on, ears flat in embarrassment. She sighed and crossed her arms, clearly uncomfortable with the topic matter. “That’s why I stuck around him. I didn’t know how little the Horde taught us until he explained everything.”

“Like what?” Adora shifted slightly to look at her. She was happy that they were talking like this again. Adora reached over to place a hand on Catra’s knee. Catra met her eyes and she could see them flickering between both her own, as though deliberating.

And then, Catra’s eyes slid shut and she pressed her lips on Adora’s cheek lightly before pulling away.

“Huh.” Adora swallowed. Now she understood why Glimmer had pushed her so much before. Seizing her courage, she leaned forward and kissed Catra back on her cheek. “M-me too.”

Catra laughed in relief as she unwound, and Adora couldn’t help but join. Her chest was buzzing, content. Catra purred into her neck and Adora closed her eyes.

“Ugh, we’re so dumb.” Catra groaned suddenly, after a few moments of this.

“That’s definitely us.” Adora agreed fondly.

“We should get Bow to explain everything to us. I swear he’s hiding more stuff.”

“Can we not do that right now?”

“Yep, you’re definitely still jealous,” Catra snickered, and the only thing that made Adora’s frown disappear after that was Catra purring and holding her hand. And kissing her.

Definitely that last part.

 

* * *

 

“Does Adora know that she went into the Lovers’ Maze?” Bow inquired as they stood to observe the entrance to the hedge mazes. These mazes were known as such because guards often used them as meeting places to ... reconnect. They were safe because they changed every time the Whispering Woods did. And, well, it was pretty hilarious for everyone else because they all knew exactly who was in there with whom if the maze shifted in time to trap anyone. 

“Nope,” Glimmer shrugged. “You didn’t tell Catra what this really was either, right?”

“Nope.”

They high-fived. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! (:


End file.
